The Third Hokage's Response
After witnessing how easily Furen handled Sasuke in his curse mark state and dealt with the Takigakure ninjas who attempted to steal their scrolls, Sakura's favorability toward him slightly increased.
Haruno Sakura's favorability toward you +1%
"Still missing a bit of favorability," Furen thought to himself. "Looks like I'll need to experience some other things with her to boost it further."
With two sets of the Heaven and Earth Scrolls in hand, Furen led Team 7 toward the center of the Forest of Death, where the scrolls were to be delivered.
Upon entering the room, they found it empty. No exam proctors were in sight, only a large banner with words handwritten by the Third Hokage himself hanging prominently.
"Open the scrolls," Furen instructed, laying out the Heaven and Earth Scrolls and slowly unrolling them.
As the scrolls opened, there was a sudden puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Iruka-sensei, who had once taught them in the Ninja Academy, appeared.
"Congratulations! You've passed the second stage of the exam..." Iruka smiled warmly at Furen, pride evident on his face for the student he had once guided.
"To be personally praised by the Third Hokage himself... you've truly grown," Iruka thought to himself, feeling a swell of pride.
After Iruka finished his lengthy congratulations, Furen and the others proceeded to the arena for the third stage of the exam.
The third stage of the exam took place on the ground floor of the central building within the Forest of Death, a large and open space.
Present were Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, Anko, Iruka, the proctors from the previous exams, and... standing at the front, the Third Hokage. Everyone had gathered for the final stage.
Among all these people, Furen's attention was focused on only one individual—the long-haired, white-haired man squatting in the distance: Jiraiya!
Furen's eyes scanned the instructors gathered in front of him until he found the one from the Hidden Sound Village.
"If I remember correctly, the instructor from the Hidden Sound Village should be Orochimaru in disguise," Furen thought as he observed the Sound Village instructor. However, this person looked different from what Furen recalled, meaning it wasn't Orochimaru in disguise.
"It seems the Third Hokage has already taken some precautions," Furen speculated after glancing at Jiraiya.
After Furen handed over the scroll containing the Konoha Crush plan to the Third Hokage, the old man had likely kept this information under wraps. Furen didn't believe it would be difficult to uncover Kabuto's true identity or the fact that Gaara, as the One-Tailed Jinchuriki, could lose control at any moment.
"It seems the Third Hokage has only shared this information with Jiraiya, and no one else is aware," Furen deduced, realizing that this was likely the best approach.
After all, among the upper echelons of Konoha, the only people the Third Hokage could fully trust were his disciples: Jiraiya and Tsunade. Tsunade was roaming the world, with no way to contact her, but Jiraiya had his summoning beasts to send messages.
As for Danzo... the man had coveted the position of Hokage for years. Even if Danzo learned about the Konoha Crush plan, he wouldn't intervene. In the original story, Danzo did nothing as the Third Hokage was killed.
The other elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, weren't much better than Danzo. While they might not desire the Hokage's position, they would undoubtedly call for the cancellation of the Chunin Exams and lock down Gaara, a Jinchuriki, just as they had done with Naruto.
Naruto's tragic childhood, which stemmed from the revelation of his identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, was likely the result of these elders' actions, probably in collaboration with Danzo.
Thus, continuing the Chunin Exams while secretly making preparations seemed like the best solution.
Despite his age, the Third Hokage was still formidable. With Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, back in the village, Konoha had the strength to confront any potential threat.
"Unfortunately, the Third Hokage could never have predicted that Orochimaru had already killed the Fourth Kazekage," Furen mused. In his own plans, the Third Hokage's death was essential.
If the Third Hokage didn't die, what would happen to Furen's promise to summon Enma, the Monkey King? More importantly...
If the Third Hokage didn't die, how would Tsunade become the Hokage?
As the third stage of the Chunin Exams was about to begin, Hayate Gekko stepped forward, taking on the role of the referee. There were too many participants for the final stage, so a preliminary round would be held to reduce the numbers.
Hayate, who looked even more worn out than Sasuke at this point, addressed the remaining ninjas.
"Before the third stage of the exam, there will be a preliminary round to determine who is qualified to participate in the finals," he announced.
Several participants, feeling exhausted, dropped out of the preliminaries, including Kabuto, just as in the original story.
The remaining ninjas prepared for the random selection of matchups, with the outcome being nearly identical to Furen's memories.
"The next match: Nara Shikamaru vs. Kin Tsuchi."
The screen displayed the names of the next two competitors.
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T/N:
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